For many years, Dr. Andreas Keiser, lecturer in arable farming and plant breeding at the University of Agricultural, Forestry and Food Sciences HAFL in Zollikofen, has been working with his research group on the goal of significantly reducing the use of plant protection products in arable farming without jeopardizing yield safety and quality. He is critical of the planned agricultural policy reforms in arable farming, he told the magazine "Die Grüne": "Modern technologies, resource efficiency or integrated production would be ignored."

High administration costs

Sepp Sennhauser, co-president of Bio Ostschweiz and St. Gallen Central Cantonal Council member, is also dissatisfied with the long list of new regulations for agriculture: "Drag hose obligation, lowering path for pesticides and nutrients, protein program instead of GMF, old cows program, 3.5 percent biodiversity area on arable land, mass livestock initiative, counter-proposal, etc. There will be programs that may have a noble goal, but are miles away from practice." He is certain that the rules would above all lead to additional official and control bodies, with the associated obligations and costs.

Lack Of Human Resources

For many companies, all these administrative requirements are not reasonable. Farmers lack human resources. According to contractor Martin Herzig, plant protection is becoming a fully professional task. To the "Bauernzeitung", Herzig says: "There is a lack of practical relevance for many offices." You have to get out of the office chair if you want to pass sensible laws. It is not possible now or in the future to farm from the desk. With some dismay, Herzig says: "It is said time and again that it is becoming easier in terms of bureaucracy, but it is exactly the opposite that happens."

More Import

The bureaucratization of agriculture is driving many farmers out of their jobs. The experts agree: They want to produce food in Switzerland. Switzerland has good production conditions and also an obligation to produce an adequate proportion of the food here. But as regulations and bureaucracy increasingly slow down productive agriculture, emissions are shifting abroad and food imports are inevitably increasing. The environment and climate are not helped.